P.S. that is quite impressive to have done that in your first two weeks! Surely you had some background in cad design before that?
Talking about all this makes me want to revisit my 3d sand printer concept... maybe one day.....just not today.
I havent had a chance to yet. I did compare the prices on some of the software though and I think they are probably the best bang for the buck. I would like to try out the expert version but man I dont think I can afford to purchase that for no more than I will be doing with it. I really think my best option is to push for using solidworks at home unless something changes.
You really should take Fusion360 for a spin. It is free for non-commercial use. And pretty powerful. It pounds out a .stl in nothing flat when your ready to print, carve, or mill.
That "free" part could disappear at any time. Everyone thought photobucket was a great place to store photos for free, and we know how that went.
Well put. But photobucket was a losing business model and they had to do something. Fusion360 is a product of a long established CAD company, Autodesk. They were one of the first in commercial drafting. They have loosened their requirements for payment rather than tightened them. However paying for a service may make you feel better. It still is worth trying out to see how it feels.
I have fusion on my computer and have played with it. It has alot of similarly to alibre, but alibre is easier to learn imho. Of course I might only be saying that because I was using alibre 6 years before trying fusion. At any rate, I own alibre and don't have to worry about someone pulling the plug on me once I have gotten used to it.
I was suggesting Billy or others try it. I've used it about three years. Not trying to sell it, but it works and I can't see buying something as long as Fusion360 is free.
Hypothetically, after spending 3 years using it for free and getting accustomed to it would you continue to use it if there was an annual fee? Let's say $199.99 for a number. I'm betting there is a pretty good possibility you would. Remember onshape??
Ill check it out. I love free stuff! I dont mind paying for a tool either if it is worth it or I need it bad enough, but with that being said I have a hard time justifying the cost of some of these programs for hobby use. If I was making production castings and had some profitability I would have no issues with purchasing said over priced software.LOL I do however see the possibility of me casting some art and trinkets and selling them one day.
I have spent the past few weeks evaluating several free 3D cad programs - SketchUp, Tinkercad, Prodesktop, Blender and Fusion360. For the way my brain is wired, SketchUp looked the easiest to learn but I’ve heard conflicting reports on its ability to output 3D printer files. Blender and Tinkercad I just couldn’t get my head round them, Prodesktop looks ok but is obsolete and isn’t supported now. That leaves Fusion 360; fortunately there is a hell of a lot of free training videos available for Fusion 360 and I found one guy in particular whose teaching style suits me, an Australian professor, Arnold Rowntree, who has a YouTube channel with a really good set of 16 tutorials which are excellent - . I found them very easy to follow, so that’s the one I’m going with. Regarding Autodesk’s ongoing support for the free version, watch this YouTube video that has an interview with the head honcho - . It may allay your fears that they will charge in the future.
I played around with blender and I may have tried tinkercad too..cant remember if that was it or not at the moment but I didnt like either of them. I have only used keycad a long time ago and solidworks, so these other programs that are mainly for animation and stuff just elude me without proper training. I still have not had a chance to check fusion360 out yet but am hoping that I can do some research tonight and check it out. I was just hoping for something that I can jump into and not spend a lot of time trying to learn how to use it and could start creating things right away. I can use Alibre but my free trial is running out and I will have to make a decision soon. I am about to email our IT guy again and ask about using solidworks at home again. Fusion may be the best option for now though. Thanks for the info Jim!
Jason, have a look at the interview with the Autodesk manager, I found it reassuring that they intend to keep Fusion 360 free for personal use. I spoke with my ex chief engineer who is up to speed with most cad programs and he reckons that if you have used any parametric cad, then it will be easy to change to another as you really only have to learn the interface. So with you being savvy with solid works and Alibre, you shouldn’t have a problem.
Sorry Billy, I’d been looking at one of Jasons post just before I replied to yours. Im sure you have been called a lot worse, I know that I have. I’m claiming the after affects of the CO poisoning, it’s definitely not senile dementia.
